Back to the hotel of Mum and Dad

Reading week is upon us and I for one am ready to return to the hotel of Mum and Dad. I plan to go home for properly cooked food, hot showers and enough attention to last me while back at uni, and then run away before I settle in too much.

Going home feels like going backwards, with everyone asking me when I’ll be home or about my plans for the future, so it’s best not to linger long.

If, like me, you’re looking for escapism as the days get darker and temperature plummets, head over to Travel. On page 21 Daniel Peters questions whether famous cities are worth visiting? and recommends his favourites.

Or if you want to get away, but not too away, have a look at Rosie Burgoyne’s article about The Student Hotel. If the name tells us anything, it’ll be that the hotel is a place full of unwashed plates, unread books and the constant fear the electricity meter is going to run out. At least that’s what my student house is like. That also means it will be a lot of fun. Read the review of her experience staying there in Amsterdam on page 20.

Those who are running away for reading week, and not back home like the rest of us, check Finance before you book. On page 15 Tony Allen talks ‘Hotel booking sites in watchdog’s bad books’ as they have been reported for misleading customers. I have never trusted them.

How am I supposed to hand over a sizable sum of money to a website whose slogan is ‘Booking.com, booking dot yeah!?’ I wonder how long that took the marketing team.

Whether you’re getting away or staying at UEA, it’s your choice. Just make sure you have a copy of Concrete to read in the ever more wintery nights.

It won’t keep the electricity on but it will give you something to do.